Easter sneaked up on me this year, so I wasn't going to send out Easter cards. Then I found this cute little chick in one of my favorite stamping stores and just HAD to make an Easter card with him. I colored him with chalks for a soft effect. The stamp is from Paper Inspirations. I went to their web site (www.paperinspirations.com) and they have some sweet vintage style stamps. Since I am into all things vintage, I love their stamps! I decided to try the yellow and brown together for the cards. What do you think? Is this little chick irresistible or what??

Offer Code: Just create your 5 cards and enter the offer code FIVECARDTRICK at the checkout.

Duration: Offer ends midnight 15th March.
 

1) It's more personal. Getting a personal letter always feels more personal than something you receive over the Internet. Part of this is psychological, part may be kinesthetic--you get to feel the card. I compare this to reading a real book vs reading something online. I don't mind getting my news and daily information online (I read 30 to 40 news feeds a day) but if I want to read something deeper, something that takes time and thought, I'll read a real book. There's something gratifying about opening a letter and sitting down and reading it away from the office, computer and your work life.

2) It's more emotional: I still have boxes of cards and letters my dad sent to his mom, brothers, and my mother from the 1950s and early 60s. He's long gone but the cards and letters remain. I enjoy seeing how he expressed himself, and his style of writing. He wasn't a Hemingway--not even college educated--but he got his point across in his own way, and often emotionally. When he was traveling the world on oil tankers, he'd write back about how he "missed home."

3) It has more impact: This is particularly true with personal photo cards where you can post your family, friends or even dog's picture. Part of the problem with e-cards is that on one level, they just represent another email in the (overloaded) email box. Easy to scan, efficient, yes. But also easy to gloss over or delete. A real card can stay up on the fireplace mantle or bedroom dressers for days or weeks.

4) It's more authentic: People pick cards that reflect their personality, taste and values. You can do this with e-cards, of course, but somehow it just doesn't come across as authentically. Just going to the trouble of picking out a card and writing a few lines says the sender cares. This is even more true of people who go to the trouble of writing a longer letter or a sort of family newsletter, outlining family highlights of the year in the case of New Year cards.

5) It's NOT about the Internet or computers. I've been watching and been involved in the growth of computers and the Internet since the 1980s. It's a phenomenal development that has changed the way we work, live and play. Yet today we may be seeing some of a backlash, as people seek out more real experiences. Virtual worlds, social media sites, blogs and websites can't replace real human connections and relationships. The greeting card represents a real connection between people that transcends the digital world.

One more related note: I do believe the need for human connection is fueling the social media movement, and explosive growth of sites like Facebook and MySpace. It's the same sort of drive that keeps people sending greeting cards, and I'm confident that these two worlds and forms of communications will co-exist for many years.

While searching around, I came across this interesting response on a Yahoo Answers site. The question was, "Do you still write greeting cards and send them through snail mail."

Happy Holidays!

THANK YOU GINNY! I just love how the egg shell is DP cute out!! Great idea!

Classe 4^B - Scuola Primaria "A. Ciancia"- Francavilla in Sinni (PZ) - Italia

Classe 5^A - Scuola Primaria "A. Ciancia"- Francavilla in Sinni (PZ) - Italia

My Easter bunny is different from others seen in the market. It represents me, with my style and my taste. Completely me. I kept reminding myself that while designing this Easter bunny last year~

My Easter Make-and-Take event last year was a success. My old customers and new acquaintances came during the three-hour event. Everyone enjoyed making a free Easter tag with this cute bunny and delicious coffee. I also had a sale on my art stamps at the site. It was bustling with joy and excitement.

It doesn’t matter how much I can earn by hosting this kind of event. All my profit was instantly gone after treating all my helpers and guests with an afternoon tea and sweets. The main purpose for me is to interact with my customers and friends, express my affections and show my appreciations toward them. Ha! I bet you already knew!

Shao 03/18/08

Charity World Vision says that £17m will be spent on presents in the province this Easter, even though a survey revealed more than half of the UK population think Easter eggs are a waste of money. And a quarter of those surveyed admitted to receiving so many eggs that they couldn't eat them all.

Green groups welcomed the research and condemned the excessively wasteful packaging of Easter eggs. International relief and development agency World Vision also asked people across the UK what they most associated with Easter. A total of 40 per cent of people in Northern Ireland said they associated it with Christianity while the figure was only 25 per cent for the rest of the UK.

World Vision called for people to purchase gifts that will help those in the developing world rather than buying Easter eggs. For example, 20 chicks for farming communities in Sri Lanka can be bought for £14. An Easter card would then be sent to the person in the UK detailing the gift. A total of 1,900 adults were questioned for the survey.

Obviously, it’s funnier seeing Jim Gaffigan perform this live... But still, it brings up a good point- where do the Easter traditions come from?                                                              

How did there ever come to be an Easter Basket?  

Well, I may not exactly know. But I can tell you some great things to include in one!  Especially children’s Easter baskets! 

Start by putting something really special in there: a personalized candy bar wrapper that you can print right from home! After all, candy is most important to a child. So besides the best chocolate bunny, chocolate eggs, jellybeans, and marshmallow chicks, what else can you do? What are some really good Easter gift basket ideas? 

This is not Christmas, folks. So I would not condone spending a great deal of money on lavish toys as basket stuffers! Instead, why don’t we focus on more inexpensive, holiday-focused goodies to fill those Easter gift baskets… 

Odds are, if you are celebrating Easter, you at least might be thinking about going to Church. Or better yet, if you’re filling your kids with Easter candy, you might be thinking about how to make them settle down during the sugar rush. If so, you can stock the basket with some inexpensive, quiet, time-consuming activities. What about printing out an Easter activity sheet?  An Easter coloring book and crayons? An Easter any-activity­-that-makes-your-kid-quiet!  Believe me, it’s a good idea. 

Other great Easter basket gift ideas include anything that you can find at a local dollar store:-         stickers-         fake tattoos-         magic tricks-         playing cards-         dollar store jewelry-         modeling clay-         hand-held electronic games-         travel games-         a lucky rabbit’s foot-         much, much more! 

And why not complement the Easter basket goodies with a homemade touch? Print out some paper bunny ears, create an original printable Easter card, or include some colorful paper egg holders! 

Finally, and this is the most important thing, add something to remind them what they are celebrating.  As Jim Gaffigan put it so well, sometimes the connection between the goodies we receive and the actual reason for the holiday is not clearly visible. 

There are a number of little religious gifts that will add a special touch to any children’s Easter basket.  For example, a guardian angel pin, a Precious Moment’s “My First Bible,” a cross necklace, or a religious nightlight may be a little more expensive than the rest of the goodies, but are definitely worth it.  

 Oh? Is that what Easter is really all about?  Yes, yes it is.  Regardless of what you believe - whether you think Jesus was the Son of God or just a really great guy and a good teacher - He is the reason we have Easter.

Easter is the most important holiday for Christians of every sect and denomination because it celebrates the most important belief that comes with Christianity:  Jesus Christ. Three days after he was crucified he rose from the dead, thus opening heaven's pearly gates to the public, and hence we have Easter.

So this Easter, if you are celebrating anyways, why not send an Easter e-card that focuses on this faith? Send a religious Easter ecard!

 Say Happy Easter with an Easter blessing ecard:

  An Easter Blessing

 An Easter Blessing for You!

Or, if you want to be a little more religious, you can send an Easter ecard with a prayer in it.  There are many Happy Easter prayer ecards to choose from, but here are a couple of my favorites:

 Special Easter Prayer

 An Easter Prayer

Finally, this card is my favorite.  If you want to send a really religious ecard, and really get to the point of what Easter is all about, this free Easter card says it- and gives me chills! 

  Resurrection and Life

It is a gorgeous animated ecard with a quote from the Book of John in the Bible:

" I am the resurrection and the life:  he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (JN 11: 25-26)

This Easter, remember as your eating your chocolate rabbit, hunting for jellybeans, and painting eggs with watercolor, there is a reason for the season. 

Happy Easter!

So hop to it  --  send out Easter e-cards featuring Mr. Cute himself this Spring.

It probably doesn’t get any “bunny-er” than the Easter Bunnies for You Easter card. These photos of soft and cuddly little rabbits will make any heart melt—and probably have a lot of children begging for a bunny pet of their own.

Not all bunnies have to be real, though. Bunnies that are as far from bunnies as peeps are from actual chickens can still be very cute. Just see how some facial paint, beady eyes, and pointy ears, turned The Chins into an adorable bunny trio for their Easter eCard “We Are Easter Bunnies.”

How about a talking eCard this Easter? Go for Hoppy Bunny to talk the bunny talk—now the question is just whether you can walk the bunny walk…?

Of course bunnies don’t walk, they hop. They hop, hop, hop about as happy as a schoolgirl with pocket money to spend at the mall. If you know someone who’s just like that, the Hopping Spree Easter e-card would be the perfect match for them.

However, Easter isn’t all about spending money, it’s about giving. It’s about candy and getting lots of it, but that candy must come from someone.

Whether it comes from the childishly naughty Pull My Finger bunny,

or from the super-happy-but-ultimately-tragic Bunny Tracks fellah,

it doesn’t really matter as long as it ends up in a huge Easter Candy Basket.

  If you prefer traditional Easter eCards you can always find those, too. We think, however, you should help someone get their Easter sugar rush by being the “bunny-est” buddy you can be with a bunny card! Hoppy Easter!